The art of photography | Shoot local 

I have been a professional news photographer for over 30 years. You can not teach me so much about photo technique, but you can give me something more important, inspiration and desire to photograph my own photos. I have enjoyed this a lot in the past years, so welcome back. I like your calm style and sense of the quiet humor. My best regards; Jørgen Witved, Denmark.

The internet seems obsessed with landscape photography to the point where all images are starting to look the same from content influencers on RU-vid. It's turning many photographers into image producing robots. Making images from seemingly nothing is a real challenge that I enjoy way more that yet another sunset or slow shot waterfall. Great video.

"Everywhere is photogenic, if you look hard enough" .... so, so true. Those black and white shots of your local area first thing in the morning echo this. Great video.

Nice one Greg!

Same for me. I am now going out taking pictures much more often than I previously did. I am even going out taking pictures during the lunch break.

Wise words. During the first lockdown we could just go out to buy food, so I started shooting all kinds of things indoors. A door handle, a shirt over a chair, shadows on the wall etc. It got me out of my comfort zone and made me a better amateur photographer.

As always, you show us the ABSOLUTELY BEST shots I can find on the Internet. Thanks for the insipation!

I live in a remote rural area of northern Thailand. For years, I take morning walks; out the door through the rice fields and across a rickety bamboo bridge to a Buddhist temple and back home. The seasons change as does the environment through the years. One camera and one lens, digital or film, I always find something new to shoot or an old scene framed in a new way.

Couldn't agree more. It simply baffles me that even today, photographers feel necessary to travel far, with a back pack resembling that of a Royal Marine on a mission, just to take photos . It is simply not necessary. There is plenty at our door steps if we open our eyes and start to see, but I have a feeling it is more about promoting gear than photography itself, and now we have this ' film ' malarky that everyone is jumping on its band wagon. Thanks for the nice photos, a couple of really good ones there.

All this exercise and experience really shows - all of your images are so well composed and thought out. I admire your ability to make a good photo out of pretty much everything. That‘s probably the highes trait of a photographer.

Another great job, Greg.

Inspiring. Thank you.

Excellent photos and advice! Thanks!

More brilliant inspiration from the best photo vlogger on the Internet.

Well said Craig!

You always take such pleasing compositions that are so unique. Thanks for sharing.

Wonderful message. Practice is everything.

Beautiful. Moving. Thank you.

SOLID advice.

I agree at all! Thank you!

So nice to have you back !!!!

Great message...

Great advice. Great photos. Thanks Craig.

"my Local is closed! :-D photography is "Seeing" the subject like no one else can! it becomes your photographic style.! nice vid Craig".

You have provided us with some truly stunning photos. All we have to do is open our eyes to a new style of image.

Thanks! That was uplifting :-) I haven't done anything but local for the last year, but still got inspiration from this.

This is a very good series since you came back 👍

Inspiring. Thanks.

Thanks again Craig for sharing your thoughts and inspiring me.

Excellent words of encouragement that everyone, without exception, can benefit from. Cheers.

Great video, thanks!

Great video! Opportunities are everywhere. You are my inspiration, Making the most of every single spot you walk by.

Amazing video, really glad I stumbled upon your channel. You've inspired me a lot to go out early mornings and explore

Completely agree, I’ve been doing the same... just at the other end of the day as I don’t like mornings 😂

Keys, wallet, phone, camera and out the door....every day to work. I even shoot from the car if timing allows. This is a nice series of videos with very enlightening messages in each. Thanks Craig. 🙏🏼

That's true, during lock down i was exploring my local beach and i manage to chase light with subjects on that beach. I got couple great images during summer and it opened my eyes of what i didn't see before, so now i expend my exploration public parks and urban places close by to explore more and even more. So explore locally around your home and you will surprise what you will discover :)

Totally agree. Being quite new to photography I've found walking around every day with a camera locally has helped me technically and really improved my ability to see a composition.

Thanks Craig I mean Greg. This is great advice! I've worked thru allot of Technics shooting Locally and I'll continue it has made me a better photographer. I've received more International recognition from my local area images in both Black & White, Color Photography Contest. Practice Local!!!

Just discovered you're back! Best damn thing to happen to RU-vid in quite awhile!

You're 100 % right!

Love the message, we don't need to be in the perfect place/location, making something out of "nothing"

I totally agree 👍! Everywhere is worth considering for photos. I attempt to get out daily, taking photos on my walks 🚶‍♂️.

I couldn't agree with you more!

Great vid! 2020 half my shots were taken within my small garden, this makes 2020 very different from other years. And yes, some of the best shots ever made are from 2020 due to exercises to harden the skills to find strong compositions, different perspectives, best light, ...

I wish I had more motivation to get out locally, I have long understood that great photos can be taken anywhere. However it does take a lot more effort to see them in ordinary locations.

I dusted off my old macro lens and have learnt pt more about my ca.era has well great video

Sun up at 0810 and down at 1510ish for parts of the year is what made me reconsider the P-L 10-25, not pulled the trigger on it, but it is somewhat on the table, after being off it since its release. Great video, and I must do something about my backlog on my subcription, as well as finally send over some photos for C&C. :-) Keep your excellent work, Craig!

Very Very Excellent. Excellent Photography Emanates from the Eye of the Photographer rather than from the Camera. Practice makes the Art PERFECT. Thanks and KUDOS.

Really li k e those local shots :)

I became a flower photographer during COVID times, because those were the most interesting objects in our yard and nearby park. Learned the close-focus distance of all of my lenses. We can add “snap local” to “buy local” as a useful rule.

That video is just beautiful. Very motivational. Thank you. My favourite is at 3:42 ... stay safe.

Great to see you again, Craig! I've shot local 99% of my time and I love to shoot things around me. Others traveled around the world and made jokes about my local photos. But now I have experience.

Nothing but the truth!👌🏻👍🏻

I really enjoyed this vlog. I have been a great believer in local photography long before the pandemic, but the pandemic has forced me, like you, to do a lot more - a good thing! I think it has made me a better photographer. My ability to 'see' images, has improved. My first love is landscape photography and I think increasingly of this genre as being like a relationship. The more you get to know a place, the more it reveals it's intimate secrets - so being close to home makes life so much easier. And besides, do we really need another photo of Durdle Dor or Buchaille Etive More to add to the tens of thousands which already exist. (I confess though to going to both places and lots more iconic locations too.) I go out with fewer expectations which leaves me wide open to being surprised by what I encounter, which I think makes me much more creative. It has also been a life saver for me following a family tragedy. Finding somewhere close to home where I can find solace has also exposed me to the most beautiful woodland and some of the best woodland photos I have ever made

Superb video. Really made me think. Well done !

-Greg- oops! Craig your the boss, fantastic images as always. Unfortunately for me lockdown has not been so good for photography as arthritis makes walking any distance impossible, I usually drive to locations close to car parks ;) So other than a couple of portraits of my wife and I for new passports my camera has barely been out of its bag. On the bright side I'm really looking forward to an end to 'lockdown the sequel' so that things can get back to some sort of normality. BTW, great video, to some degree it is YT that has kept me sane this year.

Nailed it again! And think: Are you sure you have taken all the interesting/creative pictures of your flat, house or wherever you live in? Really? All the macro shots?! Probably not. Practice makes perfect...

Everybody, who manages his camera, will return from, let’s say, Iceland, with „awsome“ images. That’s easy. But go out in your mundane neighborhood and shoot necessary pictures - that is art. The subjects and the locations don’t matter, what matters is you and your creativity. But that’s not new: the German author Rainer Maria Rilke said: if it seems not worthy enough ask yourself if you are artist enough to capture it (that’s a very loose translation from German, sorry for that!)

Very good video.

To see the places nearby in a new light. That`s the most important message these days!

Also, I really love your nighttime images more than any I have seen on RU-vid!

I'm definitely a better photographer now than before the pandemic. I've focused on learning some new techniques and since also going back to film photography, I've really become a much better photographer.

Ah yes, lockdown photography. I've been doing a lot of experimental shots at home and in the garden thinking about subjects angles and light. Also it has given me the opportunity to experiment with older cameras. All have been giving me great results from DSLR, Bridge camera, Compact to even 'phone camera. :)

@5:05 start when "this pandemic is over" - LOL, this plandemic is never going to be "over" my friend. Great video, thanks for your efforts.

I've just had a wake up call ! ... Thank you, I've neglected my own doorstep, as it were !

Was just saying "shoot local" to someone… Props! ✊🏿

How is it that you don't have 1000000 plus subscibers? Must be something wrong with the algorithm. Thank you for the inspiration!

I only shoot local because i like to take the dog on my vlogs. So many hidden locations right under my nose in Sydney. Fill the frame and you could be anywhere 😀

Do you go out during the golden hour, or before?

Yes - I take a camera out always (almost always...) on my daily 'turn around the prison yard'

Couldn't agree more, it will make shooting easier when we can travel again.

i been doing alot photos indoors

Florida has been open since last May with no restrictions so it’s been a good year for photography for me. Tomorrow I go to Daytona bike week with several hundred thousand people

When's the book?

doing (almost) daily walks for fitness to lose weight and use it for a photo walk - walking same places around my home constantly and after a while Its harder to find a photo and really push myself to see and actually capture something thats interesting/unique but its very hard. Everyday similar things are happening, people selling food, people going home from work, but its all still new but one time i get asked why im always walking and taking photo in the same area haha, i didnt even take a photo of the person. He was a bit aggressive sadly, for some reason angered seeing me walking through almost daily taking pictures. distance are around a total 7.5kg whats most interesting to me are different channels showing pictures I thought would be mundane if i were to take the same subjects in my area but since these guys are taking similar subjects of photos maybe its not that mundane and I should be more open minded to take those photos and see how people react.

Great video, Greg! Just kidding, Craig! But it is a good video!

you didn't need to buy a lens to take photos in the dark just slow down

Haven't been able to get out, because you won't answer my question 😬 you should be as active as you share videos 😉 would be easier to keep followers

It’s better to say government restrictions instead of using medical terms when you don’t have any clue what you are talking about :)